Vagabond

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Alternative Titles

Japanese: バガボンド

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 37

Chapters: 327

Status: On Hiatus

Published: Sep 3, 1998 to May 21, 2015

Genres: Action, Adventure, Award Winning

Themes: Historical, Samurai

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Morning

Authors: Inoue, Takehiko (Story & Art), Yoshikawa, Eiji (Story)

Statistics

Score: 9.27¹ (scored by 171,872 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #3²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #12

Members: 449,281

Favorites: 48,036

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9.27

Ranked #3Popularity #12Members 449,281

MangaMorningInoue, Takehiko (Story & Art), Yoshikawa, Eiji (Story)

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Volumes: /37

Chapters: /327

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Synopsis

In 16th-century Japan, Shinmen Takezou is a wild, rough young man in both his appearance and his actions. His aggressive nature has won him the collective reproach and fear of his village, leading him and his best friend, Matahachi Honiden, to run away in search of something grander than provincial life. The pair enlist in the Toyotomi army, yearning for glory—but when the Toyotomi suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tokugawa Clan at the Battle of Sekigahara, the friends barely make it out alive.

After the two are separated, Shinmen returns home on a self-appointed mission to notify the Hon'iden family of Matahachi's survival. He instead finds himself a wanted criminal, framed for his friend's supposed murder based on his history of violence. Upon being captured, he is strung up on a tree and left to die. An itinerant monk, the distinguished Takuan Soho, takes pity on the "devil child," secretly freeing Shinmen and christening him with a new name to avoid pursuit by the authorities: Musashi Miyamoto.

Vagabond is the fictitious retelling of the life of one of Japan's most renowned swordsmen, the "Sword Saint" Musashi Miyamoto—his rise from a swordsman with no desire other than to become "Invincible Under the Heavens" to an enlightened warrior who slowly learns of the importance of close friends, self-reflection, and life itself.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Vagabond won the Japan Media Arts Festival Manga Grand Prize and the 24th Kodansha Manga Award in the General category in 2000. The series won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2002 and has had over 82 million copies sold worldwide.

Vagabond was published in English by VIZ Media under the VIZ Signature imprint from April 5, 2002, to April 21, 2015, and in large 3-in-1 omnibuses under the VIZBIG imprint from September 16, 2008, to April 21, 2015. The English release got Takehiko Inoue a nomination for the Eisner Award in the Best Writer/Artist category in 2003. It was also published in Brazilian Portuguese by Panini Comics from February 2016 to February 2019.

More characters
Characters

Miyamoto, Musashi

Main

Sasaki, Kojirou

Main

Honiden, Matahachi

Main

Takuan, Soho

Supporting

Otsuu

Supporting

Inshun

Supporting

Kanemaki, Jisai

Supporting

Shishido, Baiken

Supporting

Yoshioka, Seijuurou

Supporting

Itou, Ittousai

Supporting

Reviews

Jan 29, 2026

BarJsX

Recommended

Preliminary (327/327 eps)

“There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter." -Miyamoto, Musashi

When I first started reading this manga is was way back in 2015 or 2016. I didn't expect much of it except "cool samurai fight scenes" as I would've described it then. However, upon reading it and rereading it countless times already, I've come to accept this manga for what it is: an unfinished masterpiece.

If it were only completed this would make the second manga/anime I have ever ranked a solid 10. It follows the real life story of the wondering vagrant swordsman MIyamoto Musashi ... in his journey to become the strongest swordsman who has ever lived. It doesn't start off slow and pick start picking up later on. It is consistent in its story telling and masterful in its conveying of the plot.

Personally I think many of its negative reviews are due to the viewer being unable to relate to the characters leaving them with a sense of lack of depth from the overall story. I don't want to say they are wrong. But perhaps they are looking at it the least productive way. Vagabond is a biography. The characters were different people not fictional relatable protagonists. Much of the manga might be seen as unnecessary drawn out action, but that is simply what Musashi's life boiled down to during his earlier years before he retired. It's like trying to relate to Elon Musk's autobiography when you really can't. You're supposed to take some ideas from it and try to better yourself as a person using them.

Sun Tzu's art of war is no relatable because it's about warfare. That is simply not true at all, people still use it predominantly in business tactics. If I might say: most negative reviews of this manga are/might be unjustified.

You are not supposed to relate to the characters or Musashi at all.
I believe that is the true intention of the author.

Story: 40% / 43%
Vagabond is the epic story of wondering swordsman Musashi Miyamoto later in life titled "The Sword Saint". The manga closely follows his early years in life from when he leaves to war and returns with a different name. He starts to steadily build up his legend but at times seems unsure of himself striking deep philosophical thought, not from the author, but from the person himself. I love how the story follows his life as accurately as possible while still maintaining a sense of, well, epicness. The only reason it doesn't have full points is because of the fact that the manga remains unfinished to this date.

Characters: 33% / 33%

Miyamoto Musashi or Musashi Miyamoto. He is practically the only character as far as it goes because it is basically a biography of him. (Other characters like Sasaki Kojiro were not taken into consideration whilst writing the rating for this section). The Sword Saint. It is not an exaggeration, that is his actual title. This is a man that actually lived in Japan and the tales of his journey are well recorded so I can say firmly (after actually doing a lot of research) that the manga stays true to the nature and reality of the character. Musashi was and is the greatest swordsman to have ever lived, but he wasn't born that way. His life was full of hardship, struggle, and challenge. Everything from when he was thirteen and on was battle. But that was not all there was to Musashi. He had a strong sense of philosophy and was extremely intelligent. He theorized about things such as psychology that weren't even invented in his era. A character this brilliantly and accurately represented on manga is something you won't find anywhere else. Truly masterful work done to recreate his person.

Art: 21% / 23%
This manga has perhaps some of the best illustrations I have ever had the privilege of setting eyes upon. At least in book the art this manga handles is second only to Berserk. The fight scenes are spectacles unfolding right before your eyes and everything in between is equally as exquisite. The quality does not waver during the whole length of the manga and if anything it gets even better as it progresses. The reason it does not have full points, though, is just that. The art does get better, but in turn that means that the earlier chapters could've been better as well. This may come off as overly critical or analytical, but it is the undeniable truth. In spite of this, the art still gets one of the best ratings I've given to art in manga.

Overall: 94% / 100% or 9.4/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Oct 13, 2025

KrisoniX

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (152/327 eps)

Vagabond is a manga that, despite having many good ideas, isn’t quite as great as it seems at first glance.

The story states numerous philosophical questions that both the reader and the characters must answer for themselves. I even think that these questions, rather than the duels between samurai, are the most interesting aspect of the manga. However, given the story’s setting, these questions often end up feeling confusing and blurry, often too broad. The events and character behaviors often contradict the themes they’re supposed to represent.

While reading, I often had to stop and think about what is happening and how it represents the thopos in ...

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Jan 21, 2024

Jaitnium

Not Recommended

Funny

Preliminary (260/327 eps)

Spoiler

Vagabond interested me because it's an action, seinen manga. Unfortunately, it's a mixed bag. Vagabond has great characters and art, but has horrendous pacing and the fights can be hard to follow.

What I want to talk about though, is why I dropped the manga.

The second visit to Kyoto is an event that has been on the back of readers' minds for the majority of the manga, and needless to say I was hyped.

The mangaka starts the arc with a massive spoiler. The spoiler completely robs the story of any suspense from the following dozen or so chapters as we're waiting for the characters to catch ... up to what the author just spoiled. I'm honestly dumbfounded by the writing decision making here. This style of writing works when the author shows a future scene, making the audience drop their guard since they know what will happen, only to subvert expectations with an unexpected twist by showing the full context of that scene. That didn't happen though.

My next two grievances are with our protagonist, Musashi, who is the worst.

Musahi finally has his duel with Denshichiro. At this point Musashi can easily defeat Den, blindfolded, armed with nothing but a wet sock. Yet for some reason it doesn't even cross Musashi's mind to spare Den, even after what he puts Den through. Musashi contemplates all the different ways he can execute Den before finally ending him. It would be one thing if Musashi killed Den and then he was reprimanded by his comrades, but that doesn't happen. That's because the author thinks Musashi needlessly killing Den is completely fine. Denshichiro is a good man, probably the most honorable man in the story. How is Musashi any different than he was when he was tied up in that tree? He's merciless and has no regard for life.

The final straw was the 70 man battle. If Musashi had even an iota of foresight, he'd realize killing Den would incur the wrath of the Yoshioka. Conveniently, Musashi teleports into the tree next to where the Yoshioka are plotting to kill him. Rationally, Musashi decides it would be best to avoid the confrontation and leaves in the middle of the night. He seemingly downs a bottle of stupid juice and decides to go fight them anyway. This is the moment when Musashi FULLY ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY for the outcome of the battle. It is no longer self defense at this point. He knew about the ambush, he had a chance to avoid it, but he just didn't want to. Musashi chose to butcher the rest of the Yoshioka. I'm not going to bother talking about how the fight is just several chapters of mind-numbing carnage. Musahi is completely at fault here.

Musashi starts off the story being a battle-thirsty demon who wants to make a name for himself. He was captured, reformed, and started on a new path. On his new path, he encounters the Yoshioka and kills several of their disciples. The following year he kills both heads of the household (granted one is self-defense), and then slaughters everyone else. He is not reprimanded for this because the author thinks Musashi is justified. Musashi hasn't changed at all, the only thing that has changed is that nobody is giving him shit for his actions.

I find myself agreeing with Matahachi's mother, which is when you know you fucked up.

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Poll: Vagabond Chapter 103 Discussion DeleteThisShit - Apr 13, 2015	10 replies	by SwitchArooo »» Jan 29, 12:53 PM
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